China 10G internet launch has been a headline on several news sites, however, this is not a world first revolution in mobile technology but part of a nationwide pilot project for broadband internet.
China has not launched the world’s first 10G internet in Sunan Hubei, despite several headlines making the claim. Instead, China has started rolling out pilot projects across the country for 10G broadband. This follows several other countries launching similar projects. It does not refer to mobile internet, which throughout China is still 5G.
What was reported about China 10G Network?
Several English language headlines claimed China had launched ‘World’s First 10G Broadband’, citing it as a major breakthrough technology. The event was claimed to have occurred in Sunan of Hubei province. The English language news articles appeared to be all copying each other, citing the same source, an article on the Chinese website MyDrivers.
However, the English language titles and articles significantly misrepresent what actually happened.
What MyDriver actually reported was that a 10G optical broadband internet pilot project took place in Huawangchan community of Xiongan New Area in Hubei province. A government-backed urban development project close to Beijing, Xiongan New Area was established in 2017 to be a high-tech, green, and smart city. It is unsurprising that it was chosen to be part of this pilot project.
The ‘Sunan’ referenced in some of the English language articles appears to be a mistranslation of Xiongan.
More significantly, this is also not the world’s first, nor is it even China’s first.
China did not launch the world’s first 10G broadband
The 10G development in Xiongan is part of a China nationwide pilot project to initiate 10G Optical Broadband internet. It was announced in January 2025 by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Xiongan is one of 168 areas across China that were selected to be part of the project.
This is also not the only 10G Optical Broadband internet project in China. Various provinces and cities have also been implementing 10G broadband, including China’s largest city Shanghai and the southern province of Guangdong.
In a January 2025 conference on 10G Optical Broadband in Guandong, Zhou Lisong, Party Secretary and General Manager of Guangdong Unicom said Guangdong has already implemented 43 10G Optical Broadband communities and business districts in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. They aim to create 300 in Guangdong alone by the end of 2025.
Outside of China, 10G optical broadband projects have already been implemented in various capacities in several countries for multiple years including the UK, US, UAE, Qatar, South Korea, and Japan. They are often used for business, but are available for communities also. In addition, the technology that was used to implement 10G Optical Broadband in Xiongan was actually tested for the first time in Switzerland in 2022.
This 10G optical broadband is also unrelated to 5G mobile internet, despite the similarities in naming. 10G optical broadband references the speed of the internet, delivering 10GB per second. Whereas 5G mobile internet is the fifth generation of mobile internet.
What are the actual facts about China 10G internet?
In conclusion, the claims that China implemented the world’s first 10G in Xiongan is false. China’s broadband and mobile internet is exceptionally well developed. However, the Xiongan development is also part of a nationwide pilot project that is not the first in China. It is also not the first in the world. In addition 10G is about optical broadband not mobile data as some might misinterpret.
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